Atlanta, GA, June 15, 2011—
At today’s American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA)
Stars of the Industry Awards luncheon, hotel employees were honored for
their
exceptional accomplishments, service, and leadership in the lodging
industry. The awards, held at the association’s Summer Summit at
the
Hyatt Regency, were presented to Outstanding Lodging Employees,
Managers, and
General Managers in three property size categories, as well as to the
winner of
the Women in Lodging Connect Leader of the Year Award and the Stevan
Porter
Emerging Hospitality Leader of the Year Award.

Winning Lodging Employee
of the Year, small property, is Joshua Cole in maintenance at
the Northwest
Inn in Woodward, OK. Josh, who is new to the industry, was
initially
hired to work as a front desk agent. Shortly after starting, one
of the
night auditors went on maternity leave and he volunteered to work her
shift. When he accepted his current position in the maintenance
department, he continued to work as a front desk agent until that job
was
filled. He volunteers his free time to assist the Alcoholics
Anonymous,
the National Narcotics Association, and providing clothes to the
community via
his church.

The winner of the Lodging
Employee of the Year, medium property, is Bessie Green, lead
concierge at
the Hilton Inn at Penn in Philadelphia, PA. Since the hotel is on
the
campus of the University of Pennsylvania, Bessie has “adopted” many of
the
students and set up a housekeeping service at the dorm that benefits
both the
hotel and the students. She has helped guests find cell phones
and
wallets left in taxi cabs, picked up prescriptions, as well as
organized
support for fellow associates who have fallen ill or suffered from a
natural
disaster.

The winner of the Lodging
Employee of the Year, large property, is Nancy Gorospe, fountain
dispenser
at the Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa, in Honolulu,
HI. Not
only does she do a great job at her cafe, she looks for ways to improve
menu
items, including attending tradeshows in search for new products, and
she
handles a multitude of personal requests from many of the hotel’s
repeat guests
who specifically request her. Although her cafe was closed during
the
recent tsunami scare, she came to work to assist with shuttling guests
to
evacuation points. A veteran with more than 20 years in the
industry, she
is a big fundraiser for the Aloha Festival and the Humane Society.

Winning the Manager of
the Year, Small Property, is Jill Clark, resort manager at the
Sanctuary on
Camelback Mountain in Paradise Valley, AZ. Jill has been in the
Arizona
hospitality industry for more than 20 years. After joining
the
Sanctuary, she increased service levels and implemented systems to run
operations more efficiently. Initiatives include transitioning to
a
paperless customer service satisfaction system, which skyrocketed a 120
percent;
and aggressively monitoring and responding to feedback sites like
TripAdvisor
and Yelp. Although she started with the hotel just before the
down
economy hit the area, she has been able to maintain labor costs and
exceed
budgeted room revenues.

Winning the Manager of
the Year, Medium Property, is Greg Hanss, director of sales
& marketing
at the InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa in Paradise Valley,
AZ. When Greg learned he had been selected by his hotel to be
their
nominee for this award, the story goes that he walked over to the
person
completing the form and rattled off five other managers he thought
should be
nominated. As the hotel’s very first hire and second-in-command,
his
stamp can be seen on almost every detail from the design of the
bedposts, to
the artwork selected, to the outlets chosen, to the Website’s
design. But
Greg’s greatest contribution was successfully helping the
sales/marketing team
through very significant initial challenges, including nine opening
delays and
foreclosure.

There were two winners of
the Manager of the Year, Large
Property. Brian Hunnings is
director of food & beverage at the Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort
&
Spa in Honolulu, HI. With more than 20 years of industry
experience,
Hunnings is known for his leadership abilities. He was the first
manager
to work actively with the hotel’s union shop stewards and, as a result,
the
union suggested creating a committee to work to resolve other issues
between
the hotel and the union. He also spearheaded a program allowing
guests to
dine at any Starwood restaurant and bill charges to their room.
And he
led his team to raise their food and beverage satisfaction scores from
the
region’s lowest ranking to the highest within three years.

Jacques Paul is assistant executive
housekeeper at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Conventions Center in
Kissimmee,
FL. Jacques was part of the first group of employees hired prior
to the
resort’s opening. With a team of just 14 housekeepers, they
service more
than 1,400 rooms each night. A native of Haiti, he
helps out
other employees from his country with translating tax and medical forms
and
even personal letters. And he helps the hotel in translations for
employee forms like benefits enrollment, audits, and flexible spending
accounts.
When the earthquake hit Haiti, Jacques immediately organized the
hotel’s relief
effort and partnered with Harvest Time International.

Winning the General
Manager of the Year, Small Property, is Kanta Kondur, general
manager of the Best Western Evans Hotel in Grovetown, GA. When
Kanta and
her husband purchased the property in 2005 it had lost its flag, which
she
regained the following year and by 2010 the property received its third
Director’s Award for Quality Assurance. Much of that can be
attributed to
the fact that she chooses to focus on her employees’ strengths and not
their
weaknesses. If a new hire isn’t performing as anticipated, she
moves that
person to another position to take advantage of their skills. She
also
works with the Tri Development Center to employ mentally and physically
handicapped individuals.

The winner of the General
Manager of the Year, Medium Property, is Robert Howell, general
manager of
The Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort in Shawnee on Delaware, PA. Rob
joined
the property in 2006 as general manager and soon took on the duties of
director
of sales. Due to his hands-on involvement in the department,
group golf
sales have increased by 100 percent. During the recent down
economic
climate, Rob spearheaded a new initiative, Shawnee’s Community Outreach
Dinners, a series of free dinners open to the local community.

The
winner of the General Manager of the
Year, Large Property, is Terri
Haack, executive vice president/managing director at the Terranea
Resort in
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. The hotel opened in June 2009,
during an
extremely tough economic climate. So tough, the resort’s lending
bank was
taken over by the government and the hotel was almost foreclosed.
She
inspired her 850 employees to focus on the guests while the hotel’s
owners
brought on new investors, which occurred 15 months later.
In order
to stay connected to such a large group of employees, she placed a
computer in
the staff dining room that links directly to her home computer and
personally
answers every query. A long-time member of AH&LA, she
currently
serves on the Resort Committee and Women in Lodging Executive Council.

Winning the first-ever WIL
Connect Leader of the Year is Stefani Raggio, senior regional
director of
people & culture, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants of Washington,
D.C. Stefani re-launched Kimpton’s Professional Women’s Group and
has
significantly increased participation and involvement in the
initiative, which
strives to create a network of professional women within the chain,
cultivate
informal mentorships, and provide education on relevant workplace
topics.
She was also instrumental in the launch of the AH&LA Women in
Lodging
National Capital Chapter.

Winning the Stevan Porter
Emerging Hospitality Leader is Tristen Bowen, assistant manager
in
Horticulture at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in
Kissimmee,
FL. A 2004 graduate of the University of Florida, Tristen leads
an 11-person
team to care for the hotel’s 4.5 acre atrium; maintain 5,000 gallons of
waterways containing live alligators, turtles, and fish; care for the
more than
60 acres surrounding the property; and educate guests about the hotel’s
unique
horticultural features. Among notable accomplishments, she
partnered with
the hotel’s exhibit hall team to fulfill exhibitor requests, which had
previously been provided solely through an outside vendor and now
generates
significant revenue; she began offering discounted floral bouquets to
staff;
and she challenged her team to increase the number of times their names
were
mentioned in the hotel’s guest survey. The goal was not only met,
but
exceeded. Finally, five years ago, Tristen adopted a fourth-grade
class
in Orlando, teaching the students about gardening and helping them
plant a
garden at their school.

Many of AH&LA’s partner state associations choose their own
employee award
winners, which are submitted to the association for national
judging.
This year’s national judges are Stefani O’Connor, executive news
editor, Hotel
Business; Stephanie Ricca, editor in chief of Hotel & Motel
Management magazine; and Ed Watkins, editor of Lodging Hospitality
magazine.

The
awards ceremony was sponsored by Cintas and HD Supply. For
more information on AH&LA’s Stars of the Industry Awards program
and a
complete list of employee and property winners, please visit www.ahla.com/stars.
Serving the hospitality industry for a
century,
AH&LA is the sole national association representing all sectors and
stakeholders in the lodging industry, including individual hotel
property
members, hotel companies, student and faculty members, and industry
suppliers.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., AH&LA provides members with
national
advocacy on Capitol Hill, public relations and image management,
education,
research and information, and other value-added services to provide
bottom line
savings and ensure a positive business climate for the lodging
industry.
Partner state associations provide local representation and additional
cost-saving benefits to members